In recent years, a teleconference system has been in widespread use in which, for example, a teleconference is performed through a communication network, such as the Internet, in order to meet a demand for reducing expenses and time required for a business trip. In the teleconference system, when communication starts between a plurality of transmission terminals, such as teleconference terminals, content data, such as image data and voice data, is transmitted or received. In this way, the teleconference can be performed.
In addition, with the recent enrichment of a broadband environment, content data, such as high-quality image data or high-quality voice data, can be transmitted between a plurality of transmission terminals. In this way, it is easy to know the state of the other party in the teleconference and it has become possible to improve the fidelity of communication by a conversation.
In the teleconference system, a technique has been known in which, in the case where a teleconference through a reservation starts, a conference start time and conference information for specifying, for example, conference terminals are extracted from an electronic mail and various kinds of information required for holding the teleconference is accumulated (see Japanese Patent No. 4292544). In this way, the teleconference system can call the conference terminals participating in the teleconference at the conference start time and start the reserved conference.
However, in the conventional teleconference system, at a time when the reserved teleconference starts, it is difficult to check the communication state of another transmission terminal participating in the teleconference. Therefore, in the case where there is a request to start the reserved teleconference after a particular teleconference terminal participates in the teleconference, it is necessary to check the communication state of that particular teleconference terminal using different communication means, such as a telephone, and then start the conference. As a result, it takes a lot of time and effort.